


Apologies

by alfiezedd



Category: Spice Girls
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-19
Updated: 2019-11-20
Packaged: 2020-12-24 02:44:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21092084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alfiezedd/pseuds/alfiezedd
Summary: What happened after Geri's apology on stage..





	1. Chapter 1

A little one shot I couldn't get out of my head... 

G/M/G/M

The night of the first concert, she had expected the cold shoulder from Mel but actually experiencing it was something completely different. Geri had known that the second she released the statement she was going to receive a backlash of criticism from fans and reporters but she felt stuck, unsure of how to stop Christian's probing questions and anger along with his parents obvious disapproval of such suggestion she may be a lesbian. The only answer was to deny. 

It was a mistake she had paid dearly for, Mel made sure of it. Not that she blamed the women one bit, it was expected but after years of finally being on good terms after leaving the band they were back to square one. The awkwardness was almost unbearable, the concerned looks from Emma and Melanie when Mel walked into rehearsals told her she wasn't the only one worried about how frosty it was going to be. 

In front of the cameras Christian appeared to be unphased by Mel's confession but as soon as they were at home behind closed doors, it became an unspoken rule that they never even mentioned her name. It was killing Geri inside, pretending to everyone on the outside how much she loved living the high life with her millionaire husband when the reality was as soon as Mel had waltzed through the dance studio doors on the first day of rehearsals she knew she didn't stand a chance of resisting the pull she felt towards the younger women, even if she wasn't giving her the time of day. 

The night after the first concert as she lay in bed beside Christian, she had covered her mouth as she silently cried into her hand, trying to hide the fact she was heartbroken. Geri knew that Christian wasn't really sleeping, a part of her felt like getting up and going to the spare room where she could really let herself cry and get all her emotions out but she knew it would end in an argument that she really didn't want to have at one o’clock in the morning. As long as Christian could pretend to be asleep, ignoring how blatantly upset Geri was over Mel then he could get on with his day believing his wife was perfectly happy in their marriage. When in reality she wasn't. 

*-*-*-*-*-*

It had been brewing for weeks now, the teasing on stage paired with lingering looks that hadn't gone unnoticed by Emma, Melanie or the thousands of fans who had watched night after night of performances. 

After the first night where Mel more or less ignored her attempts to interact, Geri didn't give up even though a part of her knew she should and focus on salvaging her marriage but she couldn’t help herself. Mel was like a flame and she was the moth, no matter how many times she got burnt she would always go back for more. 

So she persisted, arms reaching out for Mel to hold and meaningful glances had Geri feeling as though they had finally left the animosity behind but she knew she had one last thing to do.

Geri could feel the adrenaline rushing through her body as she glanced out onto the 90,000 fans that had come to watch them perform their last night on tour. She could hear all three of her bandmates chatting to the crowd as they began the lead up to singing Goodbye. The song that despite being gorgeous would always hold a bittersweet place in her heart. 

Seeing her opportunity she reached out to grab Mel's hand watching as the younger woman turned her head to smile at her, her eyes crinkling in the corner as the sheer natural beauty of the women nearly took her breath away. Wrapping her arm around Mel's waist to pull her flush against her own body, the dark haired women rested her arm around her shoulder pulling her tight against her side. Motioning for Melanie and Emma to come in closer beside them, the four women stood facing the fans. 

"-We played Wembley how many years ago Gigi?" It had surprised Geri that the girls had suggested having some time before Goodbye to talk about the reason behind the song. In reality it was something that none of them rarely ever mentioned when it was just the four of them together, it was brushed under the rug as though nothing ever happened.

Geri knew it was a can of worms that nobody was prepared to open and for good reason, it had the capability of ruining so many things including her own marriage. The subject was still so raw 21 years later, like a wound that never quite healed properly, it flared up whenever someone prodded too much. 

"21 years ago and I wasn't there." Geri replied to Melanie question. To anyone else Mel didn’t really seem too bothered with the discussion but Geri could feel the tension in the younger woman's body as her grip on Geris shoulder tightened, as though she was subconsciously making sure she couldn’t leave again. 

Mel really hadn’t given anything away over the past month or so, she may have been flirty on stage but that’s where it ended. A part of Geri really wanted to believe the younger women still felt the connection between them as much as she did but it wasn’t something she wanted to push and ruin what they had created. 

The fear of rejection was something she had always felt around Mel, when they first met she was shocked to meet someone with a crazier personality than her own and she worried they might clash and yet within two minutes of speaking she knew she had found her soulmate. It was tacky and cheesy and she had cringed at her own thoughts but it was true, they were like two peas in a pod who could have the most toxic and explosive argument over the silliest of things and yet be back to best friends ten minutes later. Victoria had always described watching them argue like experiencing whiplash, neither women could argue with her on that.

“Yeah where were you?” Geri could remember exactly where she had been as they carried on without her to play at Wembley stadium, she had been in a field crying as she thought about what she had lost. The truth was, she missed Mel more than anything else, it had killed her knowing she had let down the other girls so badly but she knew a part of them understood exactly why she had to remove herself from being anywhere near Mel. Anyone with eyes could see how heartbroken and depressed she was, she had tried to hide it but it had become too much to hold in. The eating disorders had her spiralling, it felt like it was the only way she could control her emotions and yet all it did was make her feel like she was losing every part of herself. Watching Mel with Jimmy felt like having her heart ripped out and stamped all over. The younger women knew exactly why she had left, anyone with eyes could. 

“She was in a field crying.” Emma jested. It was strange in a way, that they could talk about her leaving in front of over 90,000 fans but when it was just the four of them in a room nobody would ever bring it up in fear of it turning into a discussion none of then were ready to have. It was easier to joke and kid around with an audience who would laugh along but now Geri knew she had her opportunity, it really was now or never. 

The last night at Wembley, possibly the last time they'd be on stage together as a group and Geri knew what she needed to do. Feeling Mel's hand tracing patterns across her lower back helped to calm her racing heart. 

"I was in a field crying, but do you know what? Something occurred to me this afternoon that I need to say something very very important that I should have said a long time ago.." Geri couldn't find it in herself to look at Mel, scared that as soon as she looked at the younger women's face she would crumble and not follow through. Mel's eyes burned a hole into the side of her head, the hand around her face getting slowly tighter by the second. 

"To Emma, to Melanie, to Melanie.." Finally turning to face Mel as she pointed down the line to each of her bandmates, she could see the look of surprise and the tears in her eyes. Mel knew exactly what was coming next. 

"..And the fans, is that I'm sorry." The second the words had left Geri's mouth Mel had tugged her tight to her body, placing a tender kiss on her cheek she moved her mouth against the older women's ear.

"I'm sorry too." Pulling back Geri could see the watery smile Mel was wearing, the younger women seemed to be overwhelmed by her emotions. 

Looking into Mel's eyes, the emotions reflecting back at her made her breath catch. For a split second Geri was sure she saw a look flash across Mel's face, a look that she had yearned for for years. It was a look that Mel had witnessed the day she had left the band, a look of love that had scared Mel into pushing her away completely. The complete dismissal of her feelings was what pushed her over the edge, told her she had to leave for her own sanity. 

Emma and Melanie pulled her attention away from Mel, dragging her eyes away from the younger women she let her two bandmates engulf her into their own hugs.

Carrying on with the show, the look on Mel's face was seared into the forefront of her mind replaying over and over again unsure of whether she was only seeing things she wanted to believe. 

G/M/G/M/G/M/G/M

Hearing a knock at her dressing room door, Geri made quick work of applying her lip balm to check the time on her phone. Noticing she still had twenty minutes before she had to leave for the after party, she glanced over at the door unsure of who was on the other side. 

"Come in." Looking in the mirror, Geri smiled warmly as Mel appeared from behind the door with two glasses of champagne in hand wearing her trademark leopard print in the form of a skin tight jumpsuit paired with sky high boots and her hair still as big as it was at the start of the concert. A look which Geri very much appreciated with her eyes looking Mel up and down from her seat in front of the vanity mirror. 

"You look lovely." Geri commented whilst picking up her mascara, uncapping the lid she made quick work of applying it before nodding her head at her make up, happy with how it looked. 

"So do you." Mel joked, coming to stand behind Geri's seat she placed one of the glasses of champagne in front of Geri while she checked her own appearance in the mirror, moving a few curls out of her face. 

Glancing down at her dressing robe, Geri twisted around in her seat to lightly slap Mel on the stomach making the younger women roar with laughter. Turning back around, Geri picked up the champagne and took a small sip before standing up and offering Mel her seat. 

"Where's Monty and Blue?" Geri unzipped her small suitcase, pulling out her two dress options she held them up in the mirror for Mel to see. 

"Mum's taken Monty home with her and the last time I saw Bluebell she was hanging out with the other kids in the green room, more than likely up to no good." Mel pointed to the deep blue dress with a plunging neckline, sure to look amazing on Geri. The older women chucked the other dress back into her suitcase and rummaged around for the matching shoes. 

"You were really good tonight Ginge." Geri's eyes flicked up to look at Mel, the younger women playing with the stem of her glass twirling it around in her fingers. 

Returning to her search Geri shook her head in disagreement. The fact was, she was tired. Ever since the tour had begun she had hardly slept a wink, replaying moments over and over again in her head, analysing every lingering look and touch where Mel was concerned. It was driving her crazy, in a way she was glad the tour was over so she could return to her monotonous married life. But then there was a part of her that was screaming out, the part that craved the madness that Mel provided so easily. 

"You three were amazing, all I ever manage to do is mess up the dance routines." Untying the tie from around her waist Geri slid the robe off her shoulders, chucking it in the direction of her suitcase she picked up the dress Mel had chosen. 

Mel's eyes were roaming the length of Geri's body through the reflection of the mirror, only just stopping her jaw from dropping like something from a cartoon in appreciation for the older women's appearance. 

Delicately slipping the dress up her body, Geri had to bite her lip to stop herself from snickering at Mel's reaction. Clearing her throat, Geri caught Mel's attention turning her back to the younger women and pointing at the zip. 

Draining the remainder of her glass before placing the glass back on the dresser, Mel rose to her feet and slowly walked towards Geri. The atmosphere in the room seemed to shift as Mel gently brushed Geri's ginger hair from her back letting her grip the zipper of the older women's dress. 

"You shouldn't put yourself down like that, you're a Spice Girl for goodness sake." Stroking her thumb across the nape of Geri's neck, she felt the older women's body react and shiver with the touch. 

Mel pulled her hand back as Geri moved out of reach, putting some space between them the younger women noticed Geri was putting her guards back up again. Trying not to get frustrated at Geri's reluctance, Mel shifted to stretch out on the white sofa that was pushed up against the wall

Mel watched Geri bend down to slip on her heels from her seat, a well perfected art of balancing on one foot learnt over the years coming in handy. 

"I hope you know I meant it too." Geri looked up at Mel with a puzzled look as to what her cryptic comment was referring to. 

Coming to stand at full height Geri picked up her phone and checked to see the time, seeing they still had another ten minutes before either Melanie or Emma came barging in wondering where either of them were. 

"Meant what, Mel?" Geri questioned, sitting down on the arm of the sofa she looked down at Mel with her eyebrows knitted together. 

Mel moved to sit closer to Geri, reaching up she squeezed the older women's hand before resting their entwined hands on top of her dress clad thigh. 

"When I told you I was sorry too. I'm sorry for not listening to what you had to say the day you left, I should have told you that I loved you too..." Mel could hear her heart thundering in her chest as a silence came over the room, the red haired women's eyes were looking everywhere but at Mel. 

It had taken a long time for Mel to understand her feelings. What Geri had said only the other night had resonated inside Mel, she didn't realise how much she had loved the Watford girl until she had gone. It had taken only a day for her to realise she wasn't just upset and angry about Geri walking out, she was literally heartbroken.

It had felt as though someone had ripped her heart out, a piece of her was missing. Geri was missing and it was her fault, she had known as soon as she had hesitated in response to the red haired women's admission of her love that it was over between them but she didn't know it meant losing her as a bandmate and friend too. 

"It's fine, don't worry. All in the past now." Geri squeezed Mel's hand once more, giving a half hearted smile she went to get up from her seat but was stopped when Mel gently grasped her forearm as the younger women stood up too. 

"But it's not in the past is it? Not when I still feel the same as I did all those years ago." Geri's breath hitched, biting her lip and closing her eyes she took a deep breath before she turned back around to face Mel. 

The dark haired woman was shifting from foot to foot, the nervousness radiating off her as her eyes stared straight into Geri's as though trying to read her mind. 

"Mel.. I've got a husband." Geri could see the annoyance in Mel's eyes, the scoff that came from Mel's mouth confirming it. 

"Can you just cut this prim and proper housewife shit for one minute? Where's the old Geri gone eh? The Geri that could have a laugh and not take herself too seriously?" Mel's hands were flying all over the place as she let her frustrations out, stepping closer and closer to Geri until there was only inches between their bodies. 

"I'm not talking to you when you're like this, you've clearly had too much to drink." Geri dismissed, the tone of her voice suggesting Mel's questions were starting to provoke a reaction out of her. 

"Too much to drink? I've only had one glass of champagne!" Mel motioned to the empty glass sitting on the dressing table behind Geri. 

Geri didn't know what to do, her eyes fixated on Mel's dark orbs that looked back at her as though pleading to listen to what she was saying. Running a hand through her hair, Geri let out a groan before pinching the bridge of her nose. 

"Why are you doing this now? You've got Jess haven't you?" Mel could hear the jealousy, after years of knowing Geri she could pick up on the slightest of tones in her voice. The two of them only ever needed to look at the other to know exactly what kind of mood they were in, as if they were connected in some spiritual way and could read each other's minds. 

"She's not my girlfriend if that's what you're asking." As Mel took a step closer to Geri the red haired women took a step back, her lower back hitting the edge of the dressing table. 

Following in Mel's lead, she downed the rest of her champagne before placing it next to the younger women's glass on the table. 

"But you've slept with her, right?" Geri quizzed, a tight smile upon her face as she tried to banish thoughts of Mel and Jess from her mind. 

It had been like all those years ago, watching Mel with someone else except this time rather than Jimmy it was Jess. The young ginger singer fell over herself trying to flirt with Mel, over the last month or so Geri had lost count the amount of times she had rolled her eyes at the ginger women's attempts and on one or two occasions had to leave the room before she grabbed the woman's hair and dragged her away from Mel.

It was a side to herself that only ever reared itself where Mel was concerned. The jealousy that raged through her body whenever she saw anyone near Mel that caused a threat to her and it was as though she had fire running through her veins. Right now she had no right to feel jealous, she was married whereas Mel was completely single and yet it was still there. The green eyed monster. 

"Once, the night before the tour started." Mel admitted and for the first time she avoided eye contact with Geri, her eyes looking down at the floor as she bit her lip. 

A humourless chuckle had Mel's eyes flicking up, Geri shook her head before she turned around to collect her jacket from the back of the chair in front of the dresser. 

"So you love me but you'll still sleep with Jess? Oh yeah because that makes perfect sense doesn't it darling. C'mon, Emma and Melanie are probably waiting for us." Before Geri could pick up her clutch bag, Mel gripped her upper arm and swirled her around so they were face to face again, instead this time their bodies were flush against each other. 

"Can you just listen to what I'm saying? I love you, alright? It's not some kind of joke Geri! Yes, I slept with Jess but do you want to know something? All I kept thinking about was you, how much I wanted it to be you that I was with instead. Have you got any idea how fucking frustrating that is?" Mel's voice got gradually louder and louder as she went on, Geri could feel the fast rise and fall of the younger women's chest against her own. Looking into Mel's eyes she could see the tears glistening under the light of the room. 

"What do you want me to say? That I love you too? Because we both know I do Mel but that's not enough. I need commitment, I need stability for me and the kids." Geri shrugged her shoulders, feeling her own tears beginning to fall down her face. Reaching up, Mel gently batted her hand out of the way as she gently brushed the tears from her cheeks. 

Tenderly stroking the red haired women's cheekbones as she cupped Geri's face, Mel licked her lips before gently pushing a loose curl behind her ear. 

"Please.. Just.." Mel couldn't even get her words out, her eyes flicked down to Geri's lips and before the older women could stop her she lightly pressed their lips together. 

Pulling back instantly when she didn't feel Geri responding, her eyes roamed across the red haired woman's face. The women's eyes were closed but as soon as she opened them Mel recognised the swirling of desire instantly. 

"Geri-" Mel was cut off by Geri's lips roughly pressing against her own, the red haired women's hands coming to grip her back, the bite of fingernails digging in making her moan into the older woman's mouth. 

Moving her hands lower Mel's hands slid down to rest behind Geri's thighs lifting the older women to sit on the dressing table, neither women caring as the two champagne glasses fell to the floor smashing everywhere. Geri's legs naturally opened, allowing Mel to step forward and be wrapped in the red haired women's legs. 

Mel let her hands dance freely over Geri's body before she reached up to run her hands through the ginger hair, tugging it lightly and pulling Geri impossibly closer. 

Neither women heard the light tapping against the dressing room door or the sound of the door opening, too caught up in each other to realise Melanie had walked into the room searching for the two women who were late. 

"Oh! Woah, sorry. I'll just." At the sound of Melanie's embarrassed scouse accent Geri shoved Mel away from her, quickly wiping her lips with the back of her mouth while she slid of the edge of the table. 

"Have you ever heard of knocking Melanie?" Mel's eyes were shooting daggers at her bandmate while she sorted the neckline of her playsuit that had fallen down with her bra peeking out. 

"I did knock! You're lucky it was me that walked through the door and not Christian! What are you two playing at?" At hearing Christian's name, Mel glanced over at Geri to see a guilty expression painted all over her face. 

Without saying anything, Geri picked up her things and began to walk out of the room but not before Mel tried to take a hold of her hand to stop her. 

"I'm going to see Emma." Geri pulled her hand out of the way, striding out of the room past Melanie who's eyes were darting between the two women. 

Mel's eyes followed after Geri, watching as the door closed over she put her hands over her face and groaned in frustration.

"So? What the hell was that?" Melanie asked, coming to stand in front of Mel she pulled the hands away from her face to look at the dark haired woman in the eyes. 

"Why did you have to barge in like that? I was finally getting somewhere and now.. Well who knows what's going to happen." The emotions that had been bubbling up inside her finally spilled over, the tears tumbling down her cheeks. 

Melanie wrapped her arms around Mel's body, feeling the women shaking in her arms as she cried into her shoulder. Rubbing Mel's back softly, she quietly made soothing noises into her ear trying to help calm the women down. 

"You really love her don't you?" All the answer Melanie got in reply was a slow nod against her shoulder. 

Over the years she had watched as Geri fawned over Mel but she had never quite been able to figure out whether the love Geri felt was unrequited. Of course Mel loved Geri but none of them knew whether it was simply just a friends with benefits arrangement but it was clear to see that wasn't the case. 

Letting out a deep sigh, Mel pulled back so she could face Melanie who gave her a light smile and mirrored her earlier actions for Geri and wiped the tears from her face. 

"She loves you too, anyone can see that." Melanie didn't know whether it was the right thing to say but it was the truth. 

"But maybe that's just not enough." Moving out of Melanie's embrace, Mel collected her clutch back from the sofa and gave herself a brush down with her back to her bandmate. 

Clearing her throat, she turned back around with a fake smile upon her face that anyone would be able to see through. 

"First round on me?" Mel offered, taking Melanie's hand in her own she dragged the women out of Geri's dressing room. 

"Mel.." Melanie could see how hurt her bandmate was, a part of her wondered whether the best thing to do would be to take her home and not let her use alcohol to numb her feelings but she knew that wouldn't go down too well. She would just have to keep her eye on the dark haired women and look out for her. 

"Don't, please Melanie can we leave it for tonight? I'm a mess and I need a drink, okay?" Nodding her head, Melanie entwined their fingers together and lifted the women's hand up to place a kiss on the back of her hand. 

No words were said as they walked to where they were meeting the other girls, instead there was an unspoken rule that Melanie was there for her. 

Tomorrow Mel would try to fight for Geri and fix things but for tonight she only wanted to forget the look of guilt on Geri's face.


	2. Chapter 2

Geri could feel the dread building up inside. Having managed to avoid seeing Mel ever since the last night of the concert, Emma had insisted on everyone coming around for a catch up and that's how she found herself sitting out in her car staring out the window at Emma's house. 

Looking down the street Geri recognised both Melanie's cars, she knew she was running late but she couldn't bring herself to get out of the car. Emma hadn't mentioned or asked what had happened to make her ditch the after party but she was sure Melanie would have filled her in. Absentmindedly twisting the wedding ring that sat upon her left hand, Geri knew she needed to get a grip of herself. Ultimately she couldn't avoid Mel forever, the problem was that all she kept thinking about was how it felt to have Mel's lips pressed against her own after more than 6 years. The kiss replayed over and over in her mind, everything about it was so perfect and yet she knew she needed to forget about it for the sake of her marriage and her children.

Pushing herself up to see herself in the rear view mirror, Geri wiped under her eyes and brushed her hand through her hair. Freshly dyed the vibrant ginger again, she smiled at herself happy with her appearance. Grabbing her phone from the middle console of the car, Geri pushed the car door open and made her way up the garden path. Heels clicking rhythmically against the concrete slabs as she walked up towards the front door, Geri stood on the front door step pressing the doorbell. Quickly brushing away at a piece of lint on her dark denim jeans, Geri glanced up at the sound of the door opening. 

"Hey! Come in, come in. You're hair looks gorgeous by the way." Emma gave Geri a quick hug, squeezing her tightly before drawing back to look at Geri up close. 

"Thanks darling, the other girls here yet?" Geri was playing dumb, she could hear Melanie and Mel from the front door laughing away at something. 

A stab of jealousy ran through her at hearing Mel laughing with someone else, she felt so petty considering it was only Melanie but where Mel was concerned it didn't matter who it was the green eyed monster always came out. Feeling Emma's hand on the bottom of her back guiding her towards the living room, Geri took a deep breath as they walked through the door. 

Mel's eyes instantly connected with her own, it was as though they were the only two people in the room. Geri could feel her heart fluttering, the butterflies building up in her stomach. 

The next thing Geri knew, Melanie was wrapping her arms around her waist pulling her tight to her body. 

"How are you babe? You look great." Geri drew back from the hug, smiling at the Scouse women's compliment. Geri didn't know how on earth she could look great considering she hadn't slept properly the last couple weeks, stressed to the hilt with everything that had been going on. 

Christian had begun to notice her pulling away from him after the night of the last concert. An argument came not two days later and so now Geri was trying to make an extra effort to spend time with him. It was all too much and she was nearly at her breaking point but she couldn't show it. She needed to put on a brave face for the sake of Bluebell and Monty, pull herself together and get on with it. 

"I'm good thanks, you? Feel like I haven't seen you in forever, only been a couple weeks!" Geri chuckled. After spending the last year or so in each others pockets it was strange not seeing each other more or less everyday. 

Geri was the first to admit she was clingy, always craving contact and affection and so now the tour was over there was a niggling part of her that worried they would drift apart again but then another part of her was scared if they carried on with the tour something might happen with Mel and that was the last thing she needed right now. 

The women in question was smiling at her as she slowly rose from her seat on Emma's sofa to walk over towards herself and Melanie. 

"Did you dye your hair again?" Geri had to stop herself from stepping away as Mel reach a hand out to stroke her hand over a curl in Geri's hair. 

"Just got it done this afternoon, wasn't sure whether to go back to strawberry blonde but the ginger feels right." Geri shrugged her shoulders, looking back over her shoulder towards Emma as though subconsciously looking for a reason so look away from Mel. 

"Everyone hungry? Jade's made plenty to eat." Emma offered, watching as everyone nodded their heads in reply she held to living room door open for everyone to walk through towards the kitchen. 

G/M/G/M/G/M/G/M

Serving up the women's food in the dining room, Jade took his own dinner through to the living room to watch the football after saying a quick hello. Emma's two young sons were each out for the night, leaving the women free to chat away to their heart's content. 

"How on earth did you manage to bag a boyfriend who can cook so well Emma?" Melanie moaned eating the last bite of her dinner before placing her knife and fork down on her place. 

Emma laughed, getting up from her seat she wandered through to the kitchen and returned with a new bottle of wine. 

"I certainly got lucky with Jade, only complaint would be the snoring at night." Emma joked, pouring each of the girls another glass of wine she stopped over Geri's glass as the older women held her hand over it. 

"Oh come on Geri! Have another one, don't be such a bore." Melanie giggled, lifting her own glass up. 

Geri glared at the Scouse women as Mel tried not to laugh at her expense, clearly the two of them had managed to fit in a glass of wine before her arrival and now were halfway to being drunk. Looking up at Emma she saw the older women struggling to not join in with Mel and Melanie. 

"I said to Christian we would go out tonight." Geri explained, feeling the anger build up inside herself as she watched Mel not too subtly roll her eyes. 

"I thought we were having a girly night? We haven't had a sleepover in ages.." Emma pouted her lips out, clutching her hands together she batted her eyelashes in Geri's direction. 

Geri looked over towards Mel and Melanie, the two women sat together on the other side of the table to her giggling at Emma's begging. Making her mind up, Geri grabbed the bottle of wine from Emma's hand and poured herself another large glass. 

Each one of the girls let out a cheer, Geri flicking her middle finger up in reply as she raised the glass to her louth to take a large sip. 

"If I'd have known it was a sleepover I would of brought pyjamas." Geri pulled her phone out of her bag, not surprised at the two kissed phone calls from Christian considering she hadn't mentioned going around to Emma's after getting her hair done. 

Beginning to type out a text to her husband, Geri tried to concentrate while the other girls all argued over whether to bother sending Victoria a message. 

".. Won't reply if she knows I'm here." Mel's comment hung in the air, Geri's eyes lifted from her phone screen to settle on the dark haired women who was avoiding eye contact with everyone else. 

The relationships they had between each other in the group were so different. Mel's last marriage had a lasting effect on her friendship with Victoria, it had never quite healed properly and it hurt Geri to see Mel so upset over it. Mel could pretend to laugh and joke about how much Victoria was a bitch but deep down she loved the women like a sister and yet Victoria still kept her distance. Geri understood, Victoria not showing up at any of the tour had been a kick in the teeth but even more so for Mel. 

Geri would be lying if she didn't say the main reason she agreed to do the tour was for Mel. After years of abuse and torture from her ex husband, Mel needed something positive in her life. A tour with her best friends, singing and dancing on the stage was exactly what she needed and Geri couldn't stand in the way of that. 

"What makes you say that?" Geri questioned, sending the text to Christian she slid her phone into her handbag. 

"You know she can't stand me these days. There's no point trying to deny it." Mel shrugged her shoulders, trying to seem unphased but Geri could see straight through her. 

"Don't be silly Mel, she loves you. We all love you, don't we girls?" Melanie rested her arm around Mel's shoulder, tugging the women closer she placed a kiss on her forehead. 

Mel's eyes instantly looked up to look at Geri, the smile crossing her face as the ginger haired women nodded her head in agreement. Geri could see it was bothering Mel, Victoria no longer wanting to take part but they would all make up for Posh's absense. 

"Can we get some music on in here? And where is the rest of the alcohol? We need something a bit stronger than wine Em, this is a girls night for goodness sake." Mel's head went back, a roar of laughter at listening to Geri's complaints. 

"Ten minutes ago you wanted to go home and now you want to get completely leathered? Geri Horner move aside, Geri Halliwell is back in town." Emma cheered, gathering up everyone's dinner plates she made her way back through to the kitchen, chucking Melanie her phone to play some music through the sound system. 

Tonight was about to get a whole lot messier, a Spice Girls night in was always a night to remember. 

G/M/G/M/G/M/G/M

Geri clutched at her stomach, struggling to breathe through the laughter as Melanie carried on doing her best impersonation of Emma. 

The blonde woman was sitting with her arms folded across her chest, sulking as she slowly sipped her drink. 

"Your turn Geri! Impression of Mel, go!" Geri cleared her throat and pulled her shoulders back at Emma's insistence, ready to start her impersonation she stopped short as Jade appeared in the doorway with his mobile phone in hand. 

"Oh hello Jade!" Mel shouted at seeing Emma's partner standing at the door, holding the phone out towards Geri. 

"Hey girls. Sorry Geri, Christian wanted to speak to you." Each of the girls turned their heads to look at Geri let out a sigh at the sound of her husband's name. 

Melanie's eyebrows rose in surprise at Geri's behaviour, clearly the drink was having an effect of the ginger haired women, not hiding the fact she was annoyed at Christian interrupting their night. Normally Geri was one to pretend everything was fine, able to brush everything under the carpet but obviously things weren't as great as she was making them out to be. 

Taking the phone from Jade's outstretched hand, Geri held the phone to her ear while reaching over to pour herself a glass of water. 

"Hello? Everything alright?" Geri questioned, her voice terse as she traced tapped her fingers on the edge of the table. 

Melanie, Mel and Emma carried on chatting but Geri could tell they were trying to look like they were listening when really that's exactly what they were doing. Geri knew she could move to the other room but she didn't plan on speaking on the phone for very long. 

"It would be if my wife was coming home tonight. What are you playing at? I thought we were going to spend the night together and I get a text saying you're staying at Emma's, what's going on Geri? Is Mel there?" Christian wasn't happy in the slightest, shaking her head Geri glanced up at Mel who smiled gently at her. 

"It's like I said in the text I sent you, I'm staying at Emma's with the other girls. I've had a few glasses of wine so I can't drive home anyway, I'll be home in the morning." Geri was trying to keep her cool, ignoring his last question about Mel but lately Christian wanted to know where she was all the time. 

It was as though he knew about the kiss with Mel in her dressing room but it was sheer paranoia. It was driving Geri crazy, worrying over whether the guilt was showing too much but right now he was pushing her to the edge. 

"When do we ever get a night where Bluebell and Monty are both away? I'll come and pick you up-" Geri cut Christian off, finally having had enough she let out a deep groan. 

"Christian are you not listening? I'm not coming home tonight! I'll phone you in the morning. Love you, bye." Pulling the phone away from her ear, Geri hung up before handing Jade his phone back. 

Smiling at Emma's partner, Geri felt Jade give her shoulder a friendly squeeze in the way past. 

"I'm just going out for a pint with the lads babe, I'll be back later. Have a good night girls!" Jade leant down to give Emma a quick peck on the lips before waving goodbye and leaving the girls to it. 

Glancing back towards the girls, Geri could see each of them looking at her with a look of concern on their faces. 

"Anyone else want a cup of tea?" Geri asked, standing from her seat she gathered up the empty glasses around the table trying to ignore the looks the women were sharing between themselves. 

"Yeah, that sounds good. I'll give you a hand." Melanie offered and before Geri could object she followed the ginger haired women through to the kitchen. 

G/M/G/M/G/M/G/M

Geri could hear Mel and Emma laughing back through in the dining room as she got lost in her thoughts. Melanie placed four mugs in the kitchen counter in front of her, Geri automatically reaching for the kettle to fill them up. 

"Are you okay?" Melanie's question was followed by silence, Geri licked her lips and reached for the sugar to pour into hers and Emma's tea. 

"Honestly Melanie? I don't know anymore." Geri let out a humourless chuckle, tapping the teaspoon on the edge of her mug. 

Over the years, Geri had kept her mouth shut as far as anything related to Mel was concerned. Emma was her best friend, her little sister and yet everything the blonde women knew about her relationship with Mel came from the other women. 

The way Melanie watched every interaction between herself and Mel whenever they were together made Geri dread the things Mel had told her. Geri trusted Mel but sometimes she didn't know when to shut up, blurting out other people's secrets without even realising as she had done to Geri.

"You know I'm here, you can talk to me about anything." Melanie was leaning against the kitchen counter beside Geri, leaning her head down to try and look Geri in the eye as the ginger haired women looked down at the floor deep in thought. 

"Talk to me, please." Melanie pleaded, seeing the tears in Geri's eyes as the older woman lifted her head to make eye contact. 

It had been building for weeks, the anger and frustration. Geri had finally found herself a husband, someone who loved her the way she had always dreamed off. A father for Bluebell, he had given her Monty and a sense of security. It felt like she was living her best life. Until the tour came around. Now she felt like she was living a lie. 

"I don't understand why she had to do it. Why did she tell me she loved me? I'm finally happy Melanie! She chose Jimmy, I was willing to do anything for her and she broke my heart. Why did she have to ruin me like this all over again?" Melanie could see the hurt in Geri's eyes, her own heart breaking for her two best friends who were both a mess. 

The night of the after party, Melanie couldn't remember a time ever seeing Mel as drunk as she was that night. After knowing the women for over 25 years now, she had seen her drunk but never as bad as that night. Mel had ended up in her bed that night, sobbing into her chest mumbling Geri's name over and over. 

After walking in on the two of them kissing Melanie had thought it was only in the heat of the moment. She couldn't have been more wrong if she tried. The way Mel had looked at Geri had shocked her. Normally one for hiding her feelings, it was clear to see it was love swirling in the dark haired women's eyes. 

Melanie didn't know what to do, Mel was a mess but was trying to hide it in front of Geri as though she wasn't bothered by the women's rejection and Geri on the other hand seemed to be having an internal battle with herself. Neither women were making it easy for themselves. 

"You say you're finally happy, but are you? Mel only wants what's best for you and if that's being married to Christian then she'll accept that, she'll back off if you tell her to. She'd do anything for you even if that meant hurting herself in the process." Geri knew everything Melanie was saying was true. 

The part that worried Geri was that she didn't want to tell Mel to back off, it was something she was trying to push down. Despite loving Christian, the yearning for Mel's love was starting to overwhelm her. 

"Oi you pair! Where's the tea?" Emma's head was poking around the doorframe, Geri quickly turning her face around to wipe the tears that had fallen under her eyes. 

"Right here Em, fancy seeing what's on the TV?" Melanie distracted the blonde haired women, picking up hers and Emma's tea she walked over to her while Geri gathered herself. 

Melanie could see Emma was looking over at Geri, shaking her head at the women before she could open her mouth. 

"Mel! We're going through to the living room. Grab everyone's stuff!" Melanie shouted over Emma's shoulder, hearing Mel moaning at being made to move she turned back around to face Geri who had slapped a smile on her face. 

"Got any biscuits?" Geri asked, opening the cupboard Emma had pointed at finding a nearly full packet of hobnob biscuits she grabbed them. 

Emma and Melanie had begun to walk towards the living room, instead of following after them she waited for Mel. Striding through holding everyone's hand bags and a bottle of wine, the dark haired women stopped in her tracks when she saw Geri leant against the counter sipping slowly on her cup of tea before she put it down. 

Neither of the women said anything, instead choosing to gaze at one another. Mel could easily see Geri wasn't herself, she always knew when there was something wrong with the older women and today was no different. It only took two seconds to see Geri was upset. 

Placing everyone's things down on a chair next to the kitchen island, Mel motioned for Geri to walk over towards her. Without saying anything, Geri stood in front of Mel and let the younger women wrap her arms around her waist. 

Nuzzling her face into Mel's neck, Geri let out a sigh of content at the feeling of the dark haired woman's hand rubbing up and down her back in soothing strokes. Nobody else other than Mel could make her feel so safe and loved just by holding her. After a hard day, Geri always craved the feeling of Mel's arms engulfing her and right now all she needed was a moment of peace and quiet. 

Pulling back from one another, Geri didn't realise how close their faces were until she felt Mel's breath against her cheek. For a second Mel thought Geri was going to close the gap between them, the older women's eyes flickering down to her lips before staring intensely into her dark eyes. 

The moment passed, Geri clearing her throat as she took a step back not failing to notice the flicker of disappointment on Mel's face. 

"We better get through. You know what Emma's like, she'll have us watching rubbish on the TV." Geri explained, turning back around to pick up the cups of tea and packet of biscuits, juggling everything in her hands. 

Mel lugged everyone's handbags over her shoulders and reached over to grab the packet of biscuits from Geri's hand. 

"Can't have you dropping them, no one likes a broken biscuit." Mel commented, pushing the kitchen door open for Geri to walk through. 

G/M/G/M/G/M/G/M

"Stop it!" Geri shouted, lifting her cup of tea above her head to stop Mel from getting to it. 

Emma and Melanie's heads both turned to watch as Mel tried not to burst out laughing at the angry expression on Geri's face, her eyebrows knitted together and her mouth set in a moody pout. 

"Please Geri, you know I don't like it when there's bits of biscuit at the bottom of the cup." Mel moaned, trying to drag Geri's arm back down with a biscuit in her other hand. 

When Mel and Geri had walked into the living room, Emma and Melanie had sat themselves on the sofa watching Celebs Go Dating leaving space so they could all manage to squeeze on together. Mel had been sure Geri would sit away from her so when she made a point of asking Emma to move up she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. 

It had only taken Geri ten minutes to relax and lean into her side, resting her head on Mel's shoulder as she laughed at celebrities on the TV. Emma and Melanie didn't say anything, deciding to let the two women get on with it rather than interfere. It never did take long until the two women ended up bickering like an old married couple. Like right now. 

"And you think I like biscuits at the bottom of my tea? I don't think so Mel, you've got your own cup so bugger off." Geri huffed, shifting herself to move away from Mel she leant her head against Emma's shoulder instead as Mel placed her cup of tea on the coffee table. 

"Okay, look I'll stop." Mel relented, stuffing her last biscuit into her mouth she chucked the more or less empty packet of biscuits over to Melanie. 

Geri shook her head at Mel, the younger women sat back against the corner of the sofa. Reaching forward, Mel tugged Geri's arm for the women to rest back against her. 

Running her fingers through Geri's hair, Mel tried to ignore the look Melanie was giving her knowing fine the Scouse women would only tease her for being so soft towards Geri. Mel sat back and enjoyed having Geri in her arms, the older women chuckling at a cheesy joke someone had told on the TV. 

Bit by bit, Mel was going to prove to Geri that she was the better choice over Christian. Even if it meant showing her softer and more caring side she was willing to do it. Even if it did mean getting the kick taken out of her by her best friends in the process. 

\----

I've got more ideas for this story if there's enough interest..


	3. Chapter 3

The sound of a car alarm going off outside in the street woke Mel up, much to her utter annoyance. Pulling the throw blanket tighter around them, Mel absentmindedly rubbed soothing patterns on the older women's back hoping it didn't wake Geri up. Cracking her eyes open Mel glanced at the clock on the wall to see it was 3 o'clock in the morning, noticing Emma and Melanie had clearly left the two of them to sleep on the couch as there was no sign of the two women. 

"Stop moving." Geri mumbled sleepily, the ginger haired women nuzzling her face to rest against the soft material of Mel's t-shirt. Hands moved to squeeze around Mel's waist, the weight of Geri's body laying on top of her. 

"I can't feel my legs love, I need to move them." Mel whispered regretfully, feeling the groan vibrating against her stomach as Geri gradually woke up to realise where she was she groggily moved to sit at the edge of the couch. 

Mel couldn't help the fluttering in her heart, watching Geri yawning and rubbing the sleep from her eyes the ginger women looked so carefree and young. Feeling the pins and needles fading her legs, Mel lay back down on the couch and patted the space in front of her motioning for the other women to lie in front of her. 

Mel watched as Geri seemed to have some kind of internal battle, glancing over towards the armchair in the corner of the room Mel could feel the disappointment bubbling up inside.

"Maybe I should.." Geri nodded her head towards the chair, not finishing her sentence she went to get up from the couch but stopped when she felt Mel's hand gently grasping her wrist holding her back. 

"Love, I'm not going to try anything if that's what you're thinking. Come on, just lay down." Mel didn't want to admit that the few hours sleep she had got with Geri in her arms were the best she had had in a long time when the fact she was almost begging Geri to lay down beside her was embarrassing enough. 

It was tough, sleeping at night without the flashbacks appearing. Mel couldn't remember the last time she slept beside someone, not even wanting her kids to witness first hand the trauma she still felt from years of abuse and yet with Geri holding her tight as they slept together on the couch Mel slept better than she had in years. Mel couldn't count the amount of times she had picked up her phone after being woken from a terrifying night terror and brought up Geri's contact on her phone, finger hovering over the call button yearning to hear the older women's voice to sooth her fears. But she never did, she suffered in silence. 

A night laying down, sleeping next to Geri with a perfect night's sleep meant more to Mel than the other women knew. 

Geri seemed to think for a moment before she took a deep breath and lay back down, pushing her back to mould perfectly into Mel's front. Mel moved her hand to rest against Geri's stomach, entwining their hands together she stroked her thumb against the older women's stomach.

"I need my best friend back. I've missed you so much love." Mel confessed, unable to keep her thoughts to herself she more or less blurted it out. 

It took a moment before Geri replied, the older women shifted her position to lay on her back. Eyes connecting with Mel's, Geri reached up and stroked the soft skin of the younger women's cheeks. 

"I'm not going anywhere. Promise." Switching positions from before, Mel lay down with her leg resting on top of Geri's and her head against the ginger haired women's chest. 

The sensation of Geri's fingers running lightly through her hair had Mel letting out a moan, Geri chuckling softly in response. Mel let the steady rhythm of Geri's heartbeat in her ear lull her back to sleep. 

G/M/G/M/G/M/G/M

"Rise and shine you pair!" Melanie patted the arm of the couch, jolting Geri awake as she jumped up only just managing to miss clashing heads with Mel. 

"Any need for that Melanie?" Mel gurned, watching as Geri stood up the older women offered her a hand which she gladly took to rise to her own feet beside Geri. 

Looking over at Emma who was sitting in the armchair with a mug of coffee in her hand, Mel noticed the blonde haired women was watching every single interaction between herself and Geri with great attention. Mel knew Melanie would have told Emma everything, the blonde unable to resist extracting every piece of information from the Scouse women no doubt. 

"Any chance of one of those?" Geri questioned, motioning towards the cup of coffee currently nestled in between Emma's hands. 

"You know where the kettle is babe." Emma pointed over her shoulder towards the kitchen, Melanie laughing at the blonde women's sarcasm. 

Geri felt Mel's hand coming to rest gently on the base of her neck, the shiver that ran through her body couldn't be helped as she turned her head to look at the dark haired women. 

"I'll get it. Two sugars and milk? Fancy some toast too?" Mel offered, smiling softly as Geri nodded her head in agreement. 

"Where's our offer for toast then?" Melanie pointed between herself and Emma, an annoyed expression on her face. 

"You know where the toaster is." Mel shouted over her shoulder, missing the middle finger being stuck up in retaliation from the Scouse women. 

Geri reached over to pick up her phone from the coffee table, knowing there was bound to be a handful of texts from Christian after hearing her phone pinging throughout last night. Looking back, Geri knew she could have handled it a lot better than she had done but it had been building up. The interrogation as soon as she got home was inevitable. 

Multiple texts were waiting to be read, a variation of 'please come home' to 'stop ignoring me' appeared on her lock screen along with a few missed calls from her husband. 

Letting out a deep sigh, Geri was dragged away from her thoughts as Mel held a cup of tea in front of her face along with a plate with few slices of toast. 

"Thanks darling." Geri chucked her phone back on the coffee table, allowing herself some more time away from the reality that was waiting for her. 

Mel took a seat beside Geri, offering the older women a slice of toast before passing the plate over to Melanie. 

A comfortable silence fell over the four of them as the news played quietly in the background, everyone happily sitting sipping on their teas and coffees. 

"Where's Jade?" Geri asked, shifting on the couch to rest her head against Mel's shoulder. 

Taking a chance, Mel tentatively lifted her arm up to rest it around Geri's shoulders. The older women didn't seem to mind, resting into Mel's side much to the younger women's relief. 

"Picking the boys up from Mums, no doubt ended up in the park playing football with them though." Emma rolled her eyes playfully, flicking the channels until she landed on a Sunday morning cooking show. 

Geri's phone began to ring on the coffee table, Mel could see Christian's name flashing up on the screen. The dark haired woman moved to pick it up for Geri but felt the ginger haired woman gripping her hand stopping her from moving any further. 

"It's fine, leave it." Geri insisted, Emma and Melanie sharing a look as the older women's phone rang out before the women leant forward to mute her phone. 

"Oh! Did anyone else get an email about presenting an award at Pride of Britain? I meant to mention it last night." Melanie shifted in her seat, rummaging around for her phone to pull up the email. 

"I didn't see any email about that? Are you sure they want us all to present it?" Mel pulled her own phone out of her back pocket, scrolling through her own emails until she came across the email in question. 

Holding her phone between herself and Geri, the pair of them read it together. It was an invitation for the five girls, including Victoria, to present an award. Geri heard the scoff Mel let out, ignoring the younger women's obvious annoyance at Victoria. It was a serious sore point that Geri realised needed to be fixed, it had been a problem for far too long.

"It's not for another couple of months, I'm sure we could all make it. Can make a proper night of it, drinks and dinner maybe?" Geri was watching Mel's face for any kind of reaction to her suggestion but the younger women seemed to have put on a poker face not that it surprised her she was doing so. 

It was something Mel had always done, kept her feelings close to her chest but after 25 years Geri was able to tell exactly what Mel's thoughts were even by the slightest of changes in her demeanour. Geri could tell it was bothering Mel, as much as she'd like to pretend it didn't. 

"Great idea. I'm sure Vic has probably already read the email too. Should we phone now? See what she's saying?" Melanie glanced over towards Geri with a worried expression on her face, Emma eagerly tapping away on her phone ready to phone Victoria. 

It was strange considering Geri was the one that Emma found the lost annoying and irritating at times and yet she always listened to what the ginger haired women had to say. Listening to Geri as though she was an older and wiser older sister, Geri could tell Melanie was looking to her to interject and yet she agreed with Emma. It was better to just bite the bullet and phone Victoria, get it over and done with when they were all together on a rare occasion. 

"Go for it Em, might as well." An encouraging smile on her face, Geri placed her hand on Mel's knee gently squeezing it to get the dark haired woman's attention. 

Mel's eyes turned to look at Geri, the reassuring wink from the older women making her shake her head and roll her eyes playfully as she shuffled to sit on the edge of the couch beside Geri. 

Turning the TV volume down, Emma put her phone on loudspeaker letting the ringing echo throughout the living room. 

"Morning babe, how's you?" Victoria answered the phone with a yawn, Geri didn't blame the women considering it was 8 o'clock on a Sunday morning.

"Good thanks and you? I'm with all the girls just now-" Emma went to carry on speaking but Victoria interjected. 

"Oh? Out for breakfast?" Emma could hear that despite the way Victoria asked almost jokingly she could hear the hurt in her voice. 

"Everyone came over for dinner, ended up staying over." Everyone shared looks between themselves, the silence that followed after Emma's reply was awkward as Victoria took her time answering. 

"So what were you phoning for?" Victoria carried on as though completely ignoring what Emma had said, they could all hear the sounds of bed sheets shuffling as the women seemed to get out of bed. 

"Well there was an email asking if we would all present an award together, are you coming? Geri suggested we all go out for dinner and then drinks after? Only if you're not busy." Melanie moved across the room to sit beside Emma as she spoke to Victoria down the phone. 

If the women were being honest, ever since the last time they all performed as a five piece at the Olympics their relationships with Victoria had been nowhere near as close as before. It had been tough, trying to maintain a friendship when the women was always busy with her fashion. It was hard, they were all proud of how Victoria had made a name for herself but it came with the cost of losing a bandmate. 

Geri had never been on tour before with one of the other girls missing, it was certainly strange singing on stage and looking for Victoria to appear. But she never did. All of them had accepted it except for Mel. The dark haired woman made her feelings clear, teasingly calling Victoria a bitch on national TV on more than one occasion but there was more behind it. 

"I did read it, I've already got it pencilled in my diary. Not sure if David can make it but I'll be there." Mel's head turned to look towards the phone, a surprised expression on her face at hearing Victoria was coming along. 

"Perfect! Well we can chat more about it on the group chat." Geri replied, excited at the idea of spending a whole evening with her girls. Right now Geri loved any excuse to get out of the house and away from Christian's constant questioning. 

"Okay. I need to go and see if Harper is up. And girls? Next time an invite wouldn't go a miss yeah? I love a girls night in with you lot. Speak later, love you all!" Victoria hung up before any of the women could reply, leaving the women to share guilty looks between themselves at hearing the women clearly sounding upset at being left out. 

The sound of Geri's phone ringing again on the table had Geri closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, the ginger haired women felt like throwing her phone out the window. 

Picking it up, Geri answered the phone and prepared herself for a barrage of questions but was met instead with Christian's worried voice. 

"Geri? Why haven't you been answering the phone?! I'm at the hospital, Monty fell off the couch at your mums this morning, they think he's broken his arm. He won't let me near him, he keeps crying for you and I don't know what to do." Geri leapt up from the couch, scrambling around the room for her handbag and coat. Hands shaking as the girls looked on confused at Geri's sudden change of mood. 

"I'm leaving right now, text me which hospital you're in. Tell him Mama's coming and I'll be there soon." Geri hung the phone up, going to leave without any explanation until Melanie stood up and stood in front of the door holding Geri's shoulders. Geri felt sick, ignoring Christian's phone calls was never going to be a good idea but this was the worst possible outcome. 

"What's wrong? Why's Monty in hospital? You can't drive in this state, you're shaking like made babe." Geri's eyes looked down at her hands, feeling the shock taking a hold of her. 

If there was one thing that Geri constantly worried over were her kids, the thought of anything happening to them was her worst nightmare. Bluebell had managed to get to the age of 12 without ever really needing to go to A&E, Geri had constantly been paranoid as a single mother she relied heavily on her mother to soothe her constant worries. The thought of her son lying in a hospital bed crying out for her was playing on repeat around her mind. 

"He fell off the couch at my Mum's, broke his arm. I need to go Melanie, I don't have time for this." Geri stepped to the side, trying to move around Melanie until she felt a hand gentle gripping her shoulder front behind. 

"I'll drive, I can get a taxi back here." Mel's tone of voice told Geri there was no point in arguing, instead handing the dark haired women her keys she strode out of the room headed for her car leaving Mel to collect her coat. 

"Phone us when you get there, let us know how Monty is." Mel nodded her head in agreement, rushing out of the room after Geri understanding the women wanted to be there as soon as humanly possible. 

G/M/G/M/G/M/G/M

Waiting in the traffic lights, Geri's tapped her foot impatiently. The ginger haired woman had been quiet the whole drive, Mel turning the radio down low as soon as they had set off. Mel had contemplated reaching over to hold Geri's hand but wasn't sure how the women would respond and so had kept her hands to herself, tapping the steering wheel to keep herself preoccupied. 

"I don't know how you handle it" Geri didn't turn around to look at Mel, instead looking at the window as the dark haired woman's eyebrows knotted together in confusion at Geri's cryptic statement. 

"Handle what?" Mel replied, putting her foot on the accelerator as the light turned green. 

"Madison being away. I can't imagine what it would be like if Monty or Bluebell were in a completely different country." Geri was skirting around Stephen's name but Mel knew it was what the ginger haired women was angling at. 

None of the women ever brought up Mel's ex husband, almost as if it were an unspoken rule not to even mutter his name. The hatred Geri felt for the man was something that had shocked her, she didn't think it was possible to detest someone as much as she did him. Geri could remember being physically sick at hearing the abuse and trauma Mel had to endure, hating herself for not doing more to get the dark haired women and her daughters away from Stephen. And still the man was torturing her, using their daughter as some kind of pawn in his game of manipulation. 

"The truth is, I don't really handle it. I'm a mess inside but there's nothing more I can do right now. Just have to grin and bare it until I can figure out what the next best move is to make sure I never have to send her back to America ever again." Staring straight ahead, Mel could hardly speak through the lump in her through as she thought about her daughter being thousands of miles away with her monster of a father. 

Mel rarely ever spoke about the mess after her divorce, the ugly custody battles she was going through and yet Geri could see the raw pain the women still felt. 

Reaching across the middle console of the car, Geri rested her hand on Mel's forearm feeling Mel's arm slightly jump at the contact. Geri's fingertips lightly brushed against Mel's skin, offering a comforting smile when the women's eyes quickly turned to gaze at her. 

"You mean we, darling. We are going to figure out what to do next. Okay?" Mel licked her lips, trying to compose herself before nodding her head with a watery smile on her face. 

This is what Mel had missed more than anything. The support and love Geri offered. Mel always put on a brave face to everyone else but Geri managed to break down her barriers, the only person who she would let in. The only person who she could accept help from. They might argue but if there was anyone's opinion she would listen to it was Geri's. 

Geri had always been her best friend from day one, there was absolutely no breaking them apart. It was what made her love Geri even more, how much she believed in Mel as a person and encouraged her to be the best version of herself. 

Mel felt her love for Geri grow even more, something she never thought was possible until the women came out with the offer of help like she had done right now. Mel knew there and then she was ready to fight to win Geri over. Mel could see there was still a chance for them, even if Geri wanted to fight it she could see it in Geri's eyes she still felt the spark between then and she would show the older women she was the right choice.


	4. Chapter 4

More of a filler chapter, it's a slow burner but soon it's gonna heat up.. 

G/M/G/M/G/M/G/M

After dropping Geri off at the hospital, Mel hadn't seen Geri in person, the group chat all the women had together being the only way she had managed to keep in touch. Mel had refrained from sending Geri too many private message, not wanting to scare her off and come off as too needy despite wanting to constantly be in touch with the older women. 

The award ceremony they had all been invited to was in a weeks time and so the suggestion for everyone to go dress shopping for those who hadn't picked one yet seemed like a good excuse to spend time with Geri without it seeming too obvious.

At the end of the day, Mel respected the fact that Geri was married with a husband but what she couldn't respect was how unhappy under the surface that Geri was. Even if she wanted to pretend everything was perfect; the adoring housewife and suburban lifestyle, Mel could see straight through it. A complete farce that Geri fed into because her mother wanted a certain life for her. It was up to Geri whether she wanted to snap out of it but Mel wasn't going to let it drop until she knew for sure Geri was done with them. 

"Mel? Hello? Earth to Mel!" Emma waved her hand in front of Mel's face, the women sitting beside her in the private taxi as they pulled up outside Melanie's London home. 

Mel shook her head as though shaking the deep thoughts from her mind, needing to keep a clear head for the day ahead considering it would be the first time in over a year she would be seeing Victoria in person. 

The dark haired woman was unsure about extending the invite to Victoria. It was more the thought of the invitation being snubbed that Mel had feared yet Victoria had said yes straight away, surprising the dark haired woman yet again with her readiness to involve herself in the group but she wouldn't complain. 

Turning her head to look at Emma Mel opened her mouth to apologise but before she could say anything the car door opened as Melanie quickly slid into the car. The flash from the paparazzi cameras lit up the inside of the car, the driving making a quick get away. 

"Jeez! That was crazy back there!" Melanie let out a deep breath, brushing stray strands of hair back from her face. 

It was one of the major drawbacks about being famous, the constant media attention that each of them were subjected to. It was something that no matter how hard you tried to get used to it was impossible. The constant public scrutiny and invasion of privacy was impossible to control.

It was terrifying, the lies that were printed on a daily basis about each of them but they had found it easier and easier over the years to brush things aside. The day the newspapers picked up on the 'Mel and Geri sex scandal' was a day where it couldn't be brushed aside, it had nearly ruined a 25 year friendship. 

It was a serious test of their friendship, Geri's anger at the fact that the secret was let out along side with Mel's own frustration at being branded a liar. 

If it had been anyone else, Mel would have completely cut them off. Where Geri was concerned, it wasn't an option. Even after the most horrendous of arguments, the cruelest of words being slung back and fore they never could truly cut one another off. One way or another, their love for each other trumped everything else. 

"Anyway enough about the shitty paps. I am in serious need of coffee, my heads killing me. Reckon Vic will let me grab a quick one before we're stuck shopping for hours on end?" Emma sniggered at Melanie's question, knowing the Scouse women was dreading an afternoon traipsing around the shops for dresses and shoes. 

"Rather you than me, that's all I'm saying babe." Mel watched as Melanie let out a deep sigh. Mel had no doubt that Victoria would have them in every single store in London possible. 

Mel patted Melanie's thigh, thankful that the women had made an exception to her hatred of shopping to spend the day with everyone. 

Feeling the vibration in her pocket, Mel pulled out her phone to check her messages and couldn't help the flutter of her heart at seeing Geri's name lighting up her phone screen alongside a text message.

'Have you lot forgotten to pick me up? X' 

Mel couldn't help but let out a snort at Geri's text, the women's overdramatic ways were always a good source of entertainment. 

"What's so funny?" Emma looked over at Mel, the women looking down at her phone as her fingers flew across the screen writing out a reply. 

"Just Geri being a drama queen." Melanie and Emma shared a look between themselves, not going unnoticed by Mel as the dark haired woman glanced up to look at the two women who stayed silent. 

Rolling her eyes, Mel went back to finishing her text ignoring her two best friends. Melanie had confessed that the day after the after party Emma had phoned her up and pestered her until she told her everything that had happened, Mel didn't mind either way but it was Geri she was worried about. If there was one thing Geri hated, it was thinking everyone knew her business and were whispering behind her back. 

It was where the real problem with the Piers Morgan interview came from, the fact that everyone thought they knew what happened. When in reality, the admission of a one night stand couldn't be any further from the truth but she knew she couldn't correct everyone when it would only cause even more damage to her marriage. 

Hitting send on the text, Mel locked her phone and slit it back into her pocket before lifting her head back up letting her eyes settle on Emma sitting opposite her whose eyes were watching her as though trying to figure something out. 

"If you've got something to ask Emma then just spit it out." Mel sighed, pulling her packet of mints out of her purse she offered them to the other girls before popping one in her own mouth. 

"It's just.. Do you really want to be with her or is it just a case of wanting something you can't have?" The car came to a stop outside Geri's house, the cameras once again flashing outside the taxi yet none of them batted an eyelash. Mel glanced towards the driver, making sure the patrician was up before replying. 

"Of course I want to be with her. I've loved her since I was 19, she's the best thing in my life right next to my children. The fact that she's married doesn't change anything, I'd still be going after her if she was single. It just makes things a little harder but I'm willing to put anything and everything on the line for Geri and if that doesn't sit well with you lot then.. " Mel shrugged her shoulders, glancing out the window to see Geri walking down the driveway towards the car. 

The women looked stunning, skinny white jeans paired with a thick woolen jumper and trainers to dress it down with a travel mug in hand. Mel always thought Geri would look good no matter what she wore but it was especially true when she wore more casual clothes like today. Despite the constant teasing over the obsession with white clothes, Mel had to admit the women could pull it off very well. 

"What kind of a statement is that? Of course it sits well with me, you're meant to be together. I'm just glad you've finally got your act together sweetheart." Mel felt Emma's hand squeezing her knee, giving a heartfelt smile in return she leant over the blonde to push the limo door open for Geri. 

The ginger haired women was tripped up, nearly falling head first into the car as the paparazzi crowded around her. Mel's hand reached out to steady Geri before wrapping her arm around her waist and tugging her into the car with everyone else. 

"You alright my love?" Mel helped Geri to take her seat Beside Melanie opposite herself and Emma before she sat down herself. 

"I would be if those idiots would bugger off." Geri pointed towards the window, handing Melanie her coffee she brushed down her jumper as she straightened herself out. 

"I hope they don't follow us around all day." Emma complained, resting her head on Mel's shoulder. 

Geri's eyes darted up from picking the lint from her jeans at the sound of Melanie sipping on her coffee. Normally Geri wasn't one for coffee, quite content to have tea but after the rough nights sleep she endured last night she was already on her second cup and it had only just gone 10 o'clock in the morning. 

"Melanie! Get your own." Geri prised the coffee from Melanie's hands as the Scouse women took a large sip of the hot coffee, letting out a content sigh as she handed it over to Geri. 

"Sorry, my heads killing me." Melanie bit her lip, Geri's glare quickly melting as she watched the dark haired women rub at her temple. 

Holding the cup of coffee out towards Melanie, the Scouse women smiling gratefully in return as she took the offered cup. 

"I am seriously not ready for a whole day of shopping." Geri groaned, seriously regretting not getting a dress sorted sooner. 

It had been a stressful past couple of weeks to say the least. After Monty breaking his arm, Geri was in constant alert trying to watch every move he made. Christian was still watching her like a hawk, even more so since ignoring his phone calls the night she stayed at Emma's with the girls. 

And then there was Mel. The women meant well, of course she did but she knew if she was on her phone texting Christian the questions would begin. All Geri wanted was some peace and quiet, not to be hounded constantly by her husband. It was her own fault, kissing Mel had been a mistake in some ways. All it had brought her was paranoia and yet she couldn't find it in herself to regret it despite all the grief. Not when it felt so right. It was tearing her up inside, wanting so badly to have Mel's lips pressed against her own again and yet knowing all it would bring was more trouble. She had a husband at home who loved her and wanted to make her happy. The question that haunted her swirling around her head the minute she woke up and the minute she fell asleep. 

Was Christian enough for her? 

G/M/G/M/G/M/G/M

"Girls!" Victoria was standing beside her car, waving towards them from across the car park as Geri handed the driver the fare after an argument over wanting to pay for it. 

Melanie and Emma had walked ahead, the blonde haired women dragging the Scouse women behind her as they walked towards Victoria who had a huge grin on her face. No doubt brimming with excitement at the idea of a day shopping. 

Mel stood with her hand outstretched, waiting for Geri to take it as the ginger haired women sorted her handbag strap over her shoulder. 

"You look lovely today." Geri commented, taking Mel's hand she subconsciously stroked her thumb over the younger women's knuckles. 

Mel looked down at her ripped jeans and plain black top, letting out a scoff as she her eyes locked with Geri's. The older women was looking at her with a soft smile on her face, the stress Mel had picked up on in the car seeming to slowly fade away. 

"If I can look as good as you at your age then I'll be happy." Mel teased, the slap she received to her stomach nearly winding her as Geri pulled her hand out of the younger women's grasp. 

Folding her arms, Geri quickly walked off ahead of Mel as the women tried to catch her breath from being double up laughing at the ginger haired woman's reaction. 

"I'm only kidding!" Mel managed to get out trailing behind, watching as Geri didn't even bother to turn around instead hugging Victoria as she caught up with everyone else. 

As Geri and Victoria hugged, Mel slowly approached the group to stand beside Emma. The two women pulled back from one another, Victoria's eyes moving to settle on Mel.

It only took a second before Victoria opened her arms, an offer of a hug which Mel accepted. Swaying from side to side, Mel kissed Victoria's cheek before drawing back. 

"Now you pair, the award ceremony is in less than a week and you haven't bothered to pick out a dress yet?" Victoria raised her eyebrows, pointing between Mel and Geri who were both sporting guilty expressions. 

"Well no need to worry, you have me to help now. Right come on girls get a move on, loads of shops to visit and so little time." Opening the passenger side door, Victoria pulled out her handbag before locking her car. 

Linking arms with Emma and Melanie, Victoria pointed towards the large shopping precinct up ahead as the women chatted about the drive over. Mel and Geri were left to trail behind yet again, not that the dark haired woman was complaining in the slightest. 

"I'm glad you came up with this idea, even if Victoria is going to drag us around every dress shop in London." Geri unfolded her arms, nudging Mel's side with her elbow she watched as the younger women smiled bashfully. 

"How's Monty?" Mel asked, resting her hand on Geri lower back as the moved through the busy streets. 

Mel had stayed in the hospital waiting room for over an hour waiting until Geri came out to tell her Monty was doing fine, the ginger haired women insisting everything was okay and that she should get back to Emma's. If Christian wasn't there, she could have stayed but she didn't want to cause a scene in the hospital so instead she had given Geri a quick hug and kiss on the cheek before leaving.

"Much better, gets his cast off in about 2 weeks. He really liked the tractor stickers you sent over, stuck them all over his cast." Geri laughed at the memory of her son bouncing up and down as Geri held up the stickers to show him what his Auntie Mel had sent him. 

"I'm glad he likes them. How's Christian getting on then?" Mel wasn't even sure where the question came from, it was out before she could even help herself. It seemed like the polite thing to do but she could tell it had made Geri uncomfortable. 

"Fine, busy with work as always. How's Danielle and your new niece getting on? She looks beautiful darling." Geri asked, not wanting to spend anymore time speaking about Christian today and especially not with Mel of all people. 

Mel picked up on the change of subject, deciding not to press Geri on it she went along with it. Not for long though. Mel knew what happened when Geri internalised her worries and problems and she wasn't willing to let it get that far ever again. 

"Danielle and Myla are doing really well, she'll need to meet her Auntie Geri soon." Geri nodded her head in agreement, both herself and Mel stopped outside the dress shop. 

Looking inside they could see Victoria pointing at various dresses, a shop assistant following closely behind taking note of each choice. 

"Mum wanted me to invite you round for dinner, keeps pestering me actually. It would actually be really nice to have all my favourite people around the dinner table again." Mel hadn't let go of Geri's hand, the two of them facing each other as they shuffled into the shop doorway out of the way of pedestrians that walked by. 

Geri had always looked forward to spending the weekend at Mel's house back when they had just started out. Andrea had never failed to make her feel like a part of the family, always making an effort to make her feel at home when she felt so distant from her own family. 

It was the time where she felt closest to Mel, being accepted into the younger woman's family despite her own mother doing the complete opposite to the dark haired woman. It was as soon as the fame and stardom hit that the problems came, the arguments and jealousy becoming too much for the both of them but it had been Geri who had walked before it killed her inside. 

"I'm sure that can be arranged. Monty and Bluebell get an invite too I hope?" Geri quizzed, reaching up to brush a stray eyelash from under Mel's eye. 

Mel nodded her head eagerly before Geri lifted the eyelash on the tip of her finger up in front of Mel's face to softly blow it away. 

"Make a wish sweetheart." Geri whispered, watching as Mel gently closed her eyes over. 

Geri had a feeling she knew exactly what Mel had wished for as Mel's eyes slowly opened again, gazing into her eyes with a look of pure adoration and love that she just couldn't look away from. 

A knock on the shop window had Geri jumping away from Mel as though she had been caught red handed doing something she shouldn't be. Victoria had a smirk on her face, pointing towards the door she motioned for the two of them to hurry up. 

"We've been summoned." Mel rolled her eyes at Victoria's bossy ways, dragging Geri behind her as the ginger haired women giggled in response. 

It was a wish Mel had made umpteen times over the last few months. The wish for a family with Geri and if there was one thing she knew then it was that she was due something good in her life. 

With the other Spice Girls help as her wing women, she was on course for her wish becoming a reality if she could just manage to show Geri exactly what she was missing.


End file.
